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On a recent Capitol Hill morning, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank stopped by a swanky bistro for breakfast — and walked out with another $18,000 or so for his campaign coffers.

It’s a scene that plays out many times a day when Congress is in session: Lawmakers on their way to work, slipping out for lunch or idling between floor votes take a short walk, make an appearance and score some campaign cash.

In fact, the congressional ritual can cast a very different light on the Hill’s everyday geography. They may look like ordinary office buildings, restaurants and town homes — but, really, they’re some of the city’s biggest political ATMs.

For the event planners, just like for banks and other retailers, the key to success is location, preferably one that won’t add much travel time to lawmakers’ already crammed schedules.

“I don’t have a favorite spot,” said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, after his breakfast at Bistro Bis. “These are not done for the food. They’re done solely to be convenient.”

In the height of the fundraising season, the pace picks up and can sometimes seem like Groundhog Day for the regular check writers. (Of course, hardly anyone actually brings a check to these events. That would be considered tacky. Instead, the money is sent to the campaigns either beforehand or afterward.)

“You could easily have three meals with the same people in the same day,” said lobbyist Matt Keelen of The Keelen Group. “There are probably not many other cities in the world where that happens.”

“There are definitely weeks I eat more with other lobbyists than I eat with my family,” he added. “It’s weird.”

To identify some of the most lucrative locales, POLITICO conducted interviews and analyzed thousands of invitations provided by the Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time blog. Here’s a sampling:

Green eggs and ham

Restaurants have long been favorites for fundraisers. New ethics laws have made them even more attractive, since they are some of the last venues where lobbyists can actually sit down and have a meal — and an extended conversation — with a senator or member of Congress.

Bistro Bis is a French restaurant that was a favorite of President Barack Obama’s during his Senate days. Located about three blocks from the Capitol, it’s in the Hotel George and has plenty of private rooms for catering events. The Sunlight Foundation cataloged about 125 events at the restaurant since 2006 — and those are just the invitations their sources forwarded to them.

The Monocle is another mainstay, located near the corner of First and D streets Northeast, just a block from many senatorial office suites. The Monocle, which boasts being the closest restaurant to the Capitol, has held about 80 fundraisers since 2006.

On the House side, Tortilla Coast is another fundraising go-to. One lobbyist described its breakfast as “what a 23-year-old would eat for hangover food,” but it’s inexpensive and well-situated, a block from the Cannon House Office Building. T. Coast has been the site for about 125 fundraisers.

Around the corner, on Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast, is the more upscale Sonoma. Its good food and wine make this restaurant a favorite stop. And it has an upstairs bar and private rooms, which have netted it about 115 events.

Of course, tasty food and drink aren’t requirements. “There is wine at church, but that’s not why I go,” said lobbyist Nick Allard. “If they had a microphone, you could probably use a hot-dog stand if it was close enough to the Capitol.”

Blockbuster blocks

Stroll down the 400 block of New Jersey Avenue Southeast on a Sunday afternoon, and its Victorian town houses, stately trees and wrought-iron fences look much like the others on Capitol Hill.

But swing by during happy hour when Congress is in session, and the scene can be strangely reminiscent of Halloween. However, instead of children and minivans, the street is busy with black sedans and SUVs unloading business-suited grown-ups.

Readers' Comments (10)

This is just sickening... public prostitutes. Im glad that the corruption is so convenient for those fat f#@@! But I am sure they are very focused on doing their job. When is this going to end?!! When will this money be taken out of politics?!!! Get rid of all them including pelosi, reed, frank, murtha... they are all just looking out for themselves.

Sadly, its a long,uphill road to return to the time when politicians actually represented the public. Honesty and integrity have been replaced with political expediency. The party line has become the new truth. Money and power are substituted for justice. The ATM mentality has become pervasive throughout the nation; the government wants ever-increasing control of our lives, and we look to them to "give" us money. What will we do when the bank statement finally arrives and we are forced to appreciate how much we are overdrawn.

I used to really be against federally funded campaigns, and never checked the box on the tax return.

But giving some recent thought to what has happened and what is currently happening with Stanford, Madoff, Daschel, and the numerous indictments on both sides of the aisle (Murtha raids etc. etc.) it has become clear, at least to me, that the only way to stop all this is to take away the money used as influence pedaling. I don't see how you can come to any other conclusion or solution.

It's the basics of human nature. I snow blow my neighbors driveway because I know the husband is in the hospital and his wife needs to get in and out. I don't expect anything in return. But I know I will get a plate of cookies sometime in the future.

Almost ANY member of Congress will tell you that their biggest worry is: HOW TO RAISE THE CASH FOR THE NEXT CAMPAIGN. In the House, that is every 2 years, and is like a chronic pain that never goes away. It's MILLIONS OF DOLLARS they have to come up with. Or they lose to someone who does come up with it.

So the lobbyists are always there to "snowblow your driveway for you" and you will feel obligated to bake a plate of cookies for them some time in the future. Doesn't one hand wash the other? What is it about this example that is hard to understand?

Yes, all politics is local, and we seem to tolerate a certain amount of "slop" in the system, especially if we agree with the idea.

Now this is NOT A NEW PROBLEM. The Trans Continental Railroad in the 1860's, for example, was funded by the Credit Mobile, and many shares of stock , land, and money were liberally passed out to the Congressmen to ensure the project was done. (Read about Oliver Ames from Massachusetts, founder of the Ames Shovel Works (and the Credit Mobile). Ames shovel works company is still around.) . Examples abound in our history.

The difference is that it has never been done by SO MANY POLITICIANS for SO MUCH MONEY and done SO BRAZENLY IN THE OPEN with such UTTER CONTEMPT for the voters. This is "Not nostrums but normalcy." WGH

So the only way I see to cut it off is to take everyone out of the mix and let WE THE PEOPLE, through the Feds, pay for the campaigns. If you don't agree, don't run. It not supposed to be about YOUR getting rich as a politician.It's supposed to be about your doing PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE COMMON GOOD. Perhaps this sounds too 19th Century, but some of us still believe a public office is a public trust. Some will just be laughing out loud. I well understand why you might say you should be able to raise or spend all the money you want. Obama did.

But it is not working well for WE THE PEOPLE in the Congress, and needs to be changed. If there are other or better ideas to get the money out of the system by lobbyists and special interest, let's hear about them.

Murtha, Frank, and Dodd are all just the latest examples of the money grab.

Why Is it that the only time I feel safe is when the Moroins are not in Session?? .. and speaking of Lady Barney Fife.. why is it that nobody has held him accountable for Freddie& Fannie and most recently agreeing on the Floor to keep Acorn from getting Tax payers Money .. well RECANTD later after the White House (?/) told him to..... all in pure Transparency of Course ....

OBSCENE. Money should not be able to allow dis-proportinate access to members of the house and senate. I find the practice to be repugnant. Congress should ban such lobbying within D.C. or better yet I wish somebody would bomb all of these places to bring attention to the corrupting practice.

OBSCENE. Money should not be able to allow dis-proportinate access to members of the house and senate. I find the practice to be repugnant. Congress should ban such lobbying within D.C. or better yet I wish somebody would bomb all of these places to bring attention to the corrupting practice.

These Chimpanzees on the hill should be tarred and feathered. In this Idiotocracy that we live in today all you can do is:

NOT write to your congressman - DONT vote in the Two Parties.

Sister Frank is as incompent as a baffon, and Pelosi is more tarded than a Pug.

Pelosi doesn't know a million from a trillion, but she managed to write a swine stimulus bill that manages to create 0 jobs, and somehow Rahm and Pinnocio F. Geitner scared all of the Chimps in Congress into voting for a bill without ready any of it.

I have 0% faith in BHO, but my faith in Congres and Sister Frank and his Minions is way less than zero.

Of course, both parties are in the service of various business interests. they have to be. No one above the age of three believes any of them are exactly humble servants of the people. That said, I still think the Dems will have to throw a few more scraps from the tables to us peasants than the other party. Not a lot, of course, and some of their reforms are looking a little junky right now, but we'll just wait and see.

On a recent Capitol Hill morning, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank stopped by a swanky bistro for breakfast — and walked out with another $18,000 or so for his campaign coffers.

It’s a scene that plays out many times a day when Congress is in session: Lawmakers on their way to work, slipping out for lunch or idling between floor votes take a short walk, make an appearance and score some campaign cash.

Dear fellow Democrats,

The foregoing statement by our loyal press just infuriates me. Gone are the days of any semblance of honesty and voting for what is right and against what is wrong for the USA.

Barney is thilled to walk away with 18 grand and a promise to vote appropriately.

Obama does what his teleprompter is told to make him say and do and what will be the most profitable to him in the long and short term.

I understand they do focus group studies in the White House to determine what the next hours policy should be.

And our loyal and faithful press could care less that the government is being sold in front of their very eyes.

Chris Frates should be outraged, screaming and yelling about this kind of stuff from either party.

Yet our media was silent or condescending when the tea parties were successful.

I understand they do focus group studies in the White House to determine what the next hours policy should be.

And our loyal and faithful press could care less that the government is being sold in front of their very eyes.

Chris Frates should be outraged, screaming and yelling about this kind of stuff from either party.

Yet our media was silent or condescending when the tea parties were successful.

Again, I just don't see how the Republicans are any better. I mean, I've been watching them for 30 years or more, and if anything they are even more in bed with big business interests. Neither party is great, but as I said, the Democrats have to throw a bone to the common folk once in a while. That's all. I have no great love or praise for either party in the US. Actually, I think most politicians are just full of it, and only act like populists on election day.